Table Chat: Joe Heppe

Joe Heppe took over in July as chef at I.d. Bar & Restaurant inside the Delafield Hotel, 415 Genesee St., Delafield. It was a bit of a coming home for Heppe, who grew up in Hartland and had his first job at Hardee’s.

While attending the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Heppe worked his way through various restaurant kitchens. Eventually, he set his sights on a culinary career and gaining experience in Chicago, where he worked at Vermillion, Oak + Char, Mercat a la Planxa and Untitled Supper Club. Becoming a parent shifted his focus, and he returned to Wisconsin for a brief stint at Edgewater Hotel in Madison before taking the position at I.d.

At I.d. he finds himself close to the farms and foragers that he works with. Heppe leans heavily on Midwestern ingredients with regular visits to farmers markets and purchasing of products from Bryn-Teg Farm, Three Brothers Farm, Concord Farms, Maple Creek, Pinn-Oak Ridge Farm and Mushroom Mike.

Taking into account his wife’s Minnesota roots and his ties to Waukesha, he and his wife are raising their children, 3 and 1 ½, in Madison.

Question: What was your first job in the industry?

Answer: That was Hardee’s in Hartland. All my friends, we used to skateboard. One went in for a job and I followed him in. When I went to college, I cooked down at Harry’s Bar and Grill. Then worked at The Knick and North Shore Bistro. I kind of got the cooking bug and I wasn’t bad at it, so I continued.

Eventually I went to Gracious Catering in Wauwatosa, when they were opening Bjonda, now Firefly. I was trying to finish up my undergrad (degree), and they asked me to take over as a co-chef.

The catering company was the first time I was on my own with my own food. One of the biggest events I did was for 1,200. At that point, I didn’t know if I wanted to go to graduate school or culinary school. I ended up moving to Chicago to avoid all future schoolings and get experience in a bigger market.

My wife and I moved to Chicago and I bluffed my way into an Indian Latin restaurant, Vermilion, with Maneet Chauhan. We joked about it years later. She said the ambition is what got me the job there. That’s a telltale for the approach on the culinary business for me. I helped her compete on “Iron Chef” and we got whipped pretty good by Morimoto. We traveled to Jakarta. It was a big step.

Q: What’s a typical dinner night at home?

A: I try to cook at least one meal on my two days off. Chicken tends to be a good go-to, and here in Madison I go to Conscious Carnivore, Whole Foods or the (farmers) market. Then in Delafield, the small farm market is right next to the restaurant.

Q: What lesson do you have from fast food to fine dining?

A: When I was working at Hardee’s ... the fast pace of it being from 0 to 60 was appealing. A bus would pull up and a team would need 60 meals. I think it exposes a skill set you might not know you have. For me, it opened the door for that little adrenaline rush.

Q: Do you have a most memorable meal?

A: My first foodie restaurant experience, I ate at The Pfister when I was in my early 20s. That was my first exposure to expensive food where I understood it. I ended up working with some of those chefs at Bjonda for a brief moment.

For a real chef experience, I ate at Gramercy Tavern in 2005. I had my hands on the cookbooks that Tom Colicchio put out. It was one of those dining experiences that opened my eyes.

Q: How has your dining changed since becoming parents?

A: We honeymooned in Spain the year El Bulli closed, so we got season tickets for Next (in Chicago) when they did their El Bulli dinner. That’s a mortgage payment now.

Q: Current ingredient obsession?

A: We are looking forward to fiddleheads coming back. I love Eastern fiddleheads specifically, because they have more of an asparagus flavor. Mushroom Mike is the guy we’re working with for those different vegetables. Bryn-Teg Farm is another we’re working with, also Lone Duck Farm.

Q: What defines your kitchen workspace?

A: I do have one Peugeot pepper mill I got years and years ago from a friend, a red pepper mill. I’ve brought that in for my first day at every job.

Joe Heppe learned his craft by getting hands-on experience in a variety of restaurants.(Photo: Submitted photo)

Q: What was the first cookbook you purchased?

A: One of the first I remember was Larousse Gastronomique, then some (by) James Peterson. I was probably in my early 20s, wanting to learn more, like how do I make my beurre blanc not break and not have the chef yell at me? I’d scour used bookstores.

Not having gone to culinary school, books are a big building block for me. Thomas Keller’s “The French Laundry” was a big one. I can look at my cookbooks and see different stages of my career.

Q: What’s the first meal you made for your wife?

A: Something to do with carrots, a Thai peanut butter sauce and some spaghetti I whipped up late one night. It wasn’t great, but it worked.

Table Chat features interviews with Wisconsinites, or Wisconsin natives, who work in restaurants or support the restaurant industry. To suggest individuals to profile, email nstohs@journalsentinel.com.